The All-Pro Philly Players Show w/ Tanner McKee -- 10/14/24

Jerrold Colton and Dave Spadaro are LIVE from Chickie's and Pete's in Marlton, NJ and are joined by #Eagles QB Tanner McKee to talk about the win against the #Browns on Sunday and look ahead to the #Giants next week!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Coming to you live from Chicky's and Pete's in Marlton,
New Jersey. Every Monday night. It's the all Pro Philly
Players Show. Now here are your hosts, Gerald Colton and
Eagles inside of Dave Spadero.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
You know, it really does.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
And when you listen to the Delaware Valley people could
be so tough on the Eagles.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
I'm not sure everybody realizes it's a victory mine.

Speaker 4 (00:45):
I understand that. Look, I understand how people feel.

Speaker 5 (00:46):
Everybody expected the Eagles to come out of the gates
after the bye week, all the hype losing, you know,
the Phillies loss kind of got everybody on edge, and
the Eagles came out and didn't get things going early.
It was a struggle on Sunday at Link Fine. At
the end of the day is my good friend Ron
Joworski once told me they never ask you how, They
just ask you how many. They don't ask you how

(01:08):
you won, they just ask you how many you've won.
So yesterday a lot of good things, some things to
work on, and at the end of the day of
victory to get him back in the win column.

Speaker 4 (01:17):
On the way to New York, and at the end
of the day.

Speaker 5 (01:20):
Okay, the Eagles are the hottest team in the NFC East.

Speaker 4 (01:24):
Well right, all right, now, how about that? How about
that first man?

Speaker 1 (01:29):
Right?

Speaker 5 (01:30):
You know, the Commander's lost, the Cowboys got blown out,
and the Giants lost last night, so we're rolling baby.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
And then the way I look it, also on the
same note, is that I don't care who you're playing,
Beating anybody.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
In the National Football League is a big accomplishment.

Speaker 3 (01:45):
And at the end of the day, you're three and
two right now, sitting in you know, right on the
verge of a playoff spot.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
It's too early start calculating that stuff. And took care
of business.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
The last time we saw Eagles play two weeks before,
was not a great game in Tampa, and we had
a couple of injuries and things that going on, the
team was healthy yesterday. I know we didn't end up healthy,
and we'll talk about all that stuff, but basically it
was a victory, and any victory is a good thing.
You know, the Eagles came so close to being in
land and Lawson, does anybody give them, you know, quality
points for that? No, it's it's all about and that's

(02:18):
what it is. And then the Eagles are three and two.
So let without further ado, though, I want to introduce
the gentleman who's sitting between us and every week here
at Chickens and Pete's an Eagles player, graces us with
his presence, and we're just thrilled to have today's guests.
There are so many different components to it to a
football team, and not all of them the public sees.
And one of the most important people on the team

(02:38):
is the backup or third string quarterback right now. Whether
or not he should be higher, that's irrelevant, but act
is that a very important component of what goes on
behind the scenes. What people don't see is what this
gentleman does. So, without further ado, from Corona High School
in southern California, from Stanford University, and now in his

(03:00):
second year for the Philadelphia Eagles, Number sixteen, Tanner McKay, what's.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
Up, everybody? Thanks for having me.

Speaker 5 (03:09):
You know what's great about it is Tanner, You're in
your second year here, you're in Philly, You're the Eagles
have big plans for you.

Speaker 4 (03:15):
The sky is the limit for you.

Speaker 5 (03:17):
Your story is so incredible of getting to the NFL.
I wonder what it's like for you to observe this
Philadelphia sports culture, coming from the West coast to the
East coast, how would you describe it?

Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yeah, I mean it's been great.

Speaker 6 (03:33):
Like you said, living in the West Coast, I didn't
know a ton about Philadelphia. Came here once to kind
of see like American history and things like that. I
didn't know a ton about you know, the Eagles, the culture,
the fans, everything like that until we got drafted. And
then my whole family is going out buying Birds gear
and we're all bought in ready to roll. After I
got drafted, so a big change. Me and my wife

(03:53):
moved out. But we absolutely love it here. We love
how dedicated the fans are, how dedicated the city is
to you know, helping us win.

Speaker 4 (04:01):
Is Corona, California.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
What is that?

Speaker 5 (04:03):
Dodgers territory, Dodgers Rangels, a little bit of mix.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
I grew up a Chargers.

Speaker 6 (04:09):
Fan just from the San Diego that was like the
closest NFL team, So you kind of have like, yeah,
now Chargers Rams, maybe a little bit of the forty
nine Ers, but then yeah, for baseball, it's kind of
like Angels.

Speaker 5 (04:21):
Are they into it? Are they like into it? Like Philly,
not like Philly, not like Philly. Yeah, it's different.

Speaker 4 (04:27):
We call it.

Speaker 5 (04:27):
We've over the years, I've been with the Eagles for
thirty years, we've fashionate as passionate. There are others outside
the area, Gerald who would call the Eagles fans crazy.

Speaker 4 (04:37):
We call them passionate, but we don't.

Speaker 2 (04:39):
It's great. We love it.

Speaker 4 (04:40):
We don't care.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
Right, there are is and I do.

Speaker 3 (04:43):
I do certainly love that being from this area. But
I think one of the things that really makes is
so passionate day is the fact that everybody, man, woman, child,
everyone in this.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
Whole region is into the Philadelphi Eagles fans.

Speaker 3 (04:55):
Okay, And in a place like California, and even as
you said, it's Dodger and Angel and it's Chargers and
Rams country, and there's a whole lot of people that
just surfing don't give a damn about what's going on
through on the sports world. So here everyone is consumed
by the Eagles and what they do, and then our
whole week is dictated by how you did.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
So right now, it's a very very happy weekend.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
And by the way, Dave, I just got a text
message from one of our avid listeners.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yes, and Angela my wife.

Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yes, sos who's watching our stream, we should picture of
us and says, as Dave mentioned the hottest team in
the NFC East, she also said the hottest comment. I
don't think she was referring to me, but anyway, we
appreciate her listening and that great conflict. And as we
talk about the Dodgers, by the way, and that what

(05:42):
was or was not your team?

Speaker 2 (05:44):
Uh not necessarily. I was more of an Angels fan
growing up.

Speaker 3 (05:46):
Okay, well we are here at Chicky's and Peach and
it's got hurt and as an Angels fan that Oretani's
now in the Dodgers.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
But that's a whole different story.

Speaker 3 (05:53):
And of course, one of our own tround who's a
big Eagles has been a great player for the Eagles
for the Angels over the years. But we're watching the
Mets are up six to one. Our our fine producer,
Mike Powers there enjoying his Mets and he is a
diehard mad fan, so he's really happy, and unfortunately they
took us out. So last week I show up in
a Phillies jersey because the Phillies are one in one

(06:15):
of the series of the time. Go up to New
York and and and my partner Dave Spenero probably rightfully
so is a little mad. I mean, is an Eagles
show and we're all wearing Eagles colors today.

Speaker 4 (06:24):
I thank you, buddy, thank you, thanks for showing up.
I do believe showing up and showing out.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
I do believe without all.

Speaker 3 (06:30):
The Eagles gear you've put humut over the year, you's
you're probably naked most of the time.

Speaker 2 (06:34):
If not for it, I wish I'd.

Speaker 5 (06:35):
Kept like the zuba's back from back in the day.
I mean, they'd probably be worth something at this point.
Do you even know what they are? I actually did
not juve the stripes like the zebra stripe pants they were.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
They looked like pajamas.

Speaker 5 (06:48):
So Jo, let's talk about the fans first, trimming, because
I know that one of the big stories is Nick
and Xyrianni and his reaction. Today he held his weekly
press conference and he of course was asked about his
sideline back and forth with the fans on Linko Financial
field And before you get.

Speaker 2 (07:03):
Into it, yeah, did you hear it all?

Speaker 5 (07:05):
Tanner?

Speaker 2 (07:06):
You're right there, we're from not really you're saying from
the fans or from this just what you're hearing on
the bench.

Speaker 3 (07:11):
That might be a little different than people, you know,
because when you're down there and they're behind you, you're
actually hearing what they're saying. That just sounds in the
NFL game, it's a very different experience.

Speaker 6 (07:22):
Yeah, I mean, coach is a very passionate guy, and
you know, he wants to win.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
We all want to win.

Speaker 6 (07:26):
We put so much into the game to win and
perform and things like that. So I think it was
just a little bit of passion showing. I didn't hear
exactly what he was said or anything like that, but
I mean, like I said, we all want to win,
we all put so much into this game to do.

Speaker 4 (07:40):
That, and this is this is exactly where I'm going
with it.

Speaker 5 (07:42):
So today he had his press conference, he said that
he is just an emotional guy, excited about things. I'm
adding a spark, apologize for reacting with the fans, complimented
the fans said he was should not have kind of
had that kind of interaction with the van. But I
think Tanner, like the team responds to Nick being an

(08:04):
emotional guy. And I think the way you said it
is perfect and that's the way I view it. And
being around the Eagles for so long, there have been
times in the course of the Philadelphia Eagles where sometimes
the team just needs a spark, and I think Nick
is that kind of emotional guy to provide that spark.

Speaker 4 (08:20):
I remember back in the day before you were born.

Speaker 5 (08:23):
Maybe not before you were born, but Buddy Ryan, Buddy
Ryan used to be someone who would always dominate the
media and dominate the headlines, to dominate.

Speaker 4 (08:33):
The reaction, and his approach was direct.

Speaker 5 (08:38):
I'll be the lightning rod, I'll take all the criticism,
I'll take all the attention, and that allows my players
to kind of operate without that focus on them. And
I think in a way, that's kind of what Nick
is doing. And it's just very very organic with him.
He lays everything on the line. He wears his emotions
on his sleeve, and frankly, if you tried to hide that,

(08:59):
I think players would he threw it and it wouldn't
be genuine and that would cause.

Speaker 4 (09:03):
A problem with the team.

Speaker 5 (09:03):
So you always have to be authentic, and that's Nick Sirianni, right,
I mean, yeah, totally, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:10):
I mean Tanner from the outside personally, I don't actually
care what the coach says, and I mean that you know,
it's information to some extent, but the bottom line is
what goes on there in that locker room in that complex,
novacare That's what matters with you and the guys, and
you are one united group and.

Speaker 6 (09:28):
Looks like yeah, no, for sure. I think coach has
a huge role in that. I mean just being a
young guy and being a guy that you know that
we can relate to and kind of joke around. And
it's not so much of like, you know, just just
an older person. And yes, sir, you know we're all
talking about football, but I mean he does like to
talk about his family and does talk about different experiences.
You can kind of have that, you know, relationship with him,
and I think that is good when you're talking about

(09:48):
plays and talking about schemes, that you feel comfortable with
the person that you're kind of sharing that information with.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
And I feel like he kind of has that with us.

Speaker 5 (09:54):
Hey, you know, I imagine in your career, Tanner, being
a quarterback, you have got to Eric Gerald asked about
hearing the fans.

Speaker 4 (10:02):
Through the course of it.

Speaker 5 (10:03):
You have to tune out every voice you're hearing when
you are focused on football, whether it's the defensive guys chirping,
whether it's the crowd being loud when you're at the
line of scrimmage. I mean that's how do you do that?
And is that something that you've really learned to do
through the course of your football career.

Speaker 6 (10:20):
Yeah, I mean I feel like the natural reaction is
is you kind of want to respond and hear and
be passionate and things like that. But as a player,
you got, you know, a more important role and something
to focus on, and it's you know, to move the
ball or to you know, getting your guys on the
right on the same page and communicate and things like that.

Speaker 5 (10:36):
When you were we're going to go through your career.
But when you were at Stanford did you also were
you active.

Speaker 4 (10:41):
On social media?

Speaker 2 (10:43):
I was a little bit.

Speaker 6 (10:44):
I wouldn't say I'm always on social media, but yes
I did have social media.

Speaker 5 (10:47):
Were you aware of people praising you or criticizing you?

Speaker 6 (10:51):
I was mainly just family like sending me if somebody
said something funny or just you know, little things like
that just means going back and forth.

Speaker 2 (10:59):
But yeah, I wasn't.

Speaker 6 (10:59):
I was one to go through and scroll through all
the comments and kind of see what everyone say. I
just I think for a quarterback, I don't think that's
necessarily healthy when you're trying to focus on the season
and there's so many other things to worry about that
just you just want to block out the outside noise.

Speaker 5 (11:11):
Is there any chance, and this is a wild tangent.
Saturday night, I was watching the LSU game, Is there
any chance you were with Coach Nuts, your quarterbacks coach?
His son is the quarterback at LSU, And they engineered
this late game come back to tie the game go
into overtime and then they won the game. And I
was thinking, as a dad, like how cool that would

(11:32):
be to be watching. I mean, you certainly you'd rather
be there, But he's coaching the Philadelphia Eagles.

Speaker 4 (11:36):
Were you with him by a chance at all?

Speaker 2 (11:38):
I was not with him, but I did.

Speaker 6 (11:39):
I did watch the game and the throw that he
made to put it into overtime, which was a great throw,
And so I was talking to coach just be like, hey, congratulations,
that was a great Is.

Speaker 4 (11:47):
He like a jump up and down kind of guy?

Speaker 2 (11:49):
N I mean yeah, I would, I would say.

Speaker 6 (11:51):
So. He's pretty passionate as well, and so it is
fun to see him like have his son, you know,
have success. You can tell his son is really good
with his mechanics and his reads. You know, he's definitely
a coach's son, which which.

Speaker 2 (12:01):
Is good to see.

Speaker 3 (12:02):
You see it like crazy, and Tanner, I will tell
you this, not not for you right now, but the
accomplishmence of your kids feels so much better than anything
you do in this world. So I pretty imagine the
coach watching him and Dave. Dave knows what I'm talking about.
And also we're going to hear a little later. Your
lovely wife Lauren has a company. You hear what it's
like to be a wife in the Saints. Hear that

(12:22):
stuff because people don't think about that stuff. But it's
you know, it's just a different side of the game
that people miss out on and probably should be aware of,
because there you are, Dave.

Speaker 2 (12:33):
It's it's first down, you know, two week layoff.

Speaker 3 (12:37):
You get the ball at which I always want the
ball to start, even though everybody differs, and we've been
through that forget. He finally get the boy yesterday and
first play is a nice little running running play for
five for about five yards, and then the next two
plays where incomplete passes and the crowd starts booing right away,
like you know, it's great to support your team, but
that is really well.

Speaker 4 (12:57):
I mean, I just the only I'll say is that
tannor no need.

Speaker 5 (12:59):
To speak about this, but I was booing never helps
the team. It may feel good for the fans, and
I understand the frustration, and frankly, through the years, you know,
one of the things that has always separated Eagles fans
from fans of other teams that I've talked to players
that've played elsewhere, when things go bad for the other teams,
the fans leave and they don't come back. In Philly,

(13:20):
they stay and they let you know how they feel,
and the players actually appreciate that, but it does not
help the football team play better football.

Speaker 4 (13:28):
So it was early, but.

Speaker 5 (13:30):
I think everybody anticipated that again the Phillies losing the
series to the Mets. Everyone kind of thought outside the
building that it would be an easy game against Cleveland.
I warned against it in pregame radio that it would
be a very tough game. Cleveland was a desperate team,
a really good defense, and the Eagles didn't get things
going until I think the third drive, and so hey,

(13:53):
it doesn't help the boo, but we all appreciate your passion.

Speaker 3 (13:55):
Well, David's also, you know, Cleveland had some emotional factors.

Speaker 2 (13:59):
Number One, they're down one in five. They know that
their season is on the line.

Speaker 3 (14:02):
The head coach of the Cleveland Browns, and you might
not know this, but went to Sancho's Prep here in Philly,
which is the same school that Trotter went to one year,
a team and a whole bunch of NFL players. He
also went to University of Pennsylvania here in Philly. His
father was the general manager of the Philadelphia seventy six ers,
drafted by the seventy six ers in nineteen seventy six.

Speaker 2 (14:20):
A very diving the Philadelphia family.

Speaker 3 (14:22):
The fronto offs is filled with former Eagles people of
Philadelphia people, and Rodney McLeod, he used to co host
this show with me a few years ago when he
played for the Eagles, is over there and a big leader.
And you know, listen, I'm never happy to say him
by score against Eagles, but if anybody was going to
do what, I was happy to see Rodney McLeod doing.
And so there's just a lot of emotional factors that
you can't take into account, and they're coming there to win.

Speaker 2 (14:42):
So a win is a win is a win.

Speaker 4 (14:43):
As we see.

Speaker 1 (14:44):
Wow.

Speaker 5 (14:44):
Rodney's greatest accomplishment was co hosting the show with you,
and he was also a member of the twenty seventeen
Super Bowl fifty two championship.

Speaker 2 (14:53):
Not only was he a member, not only was a member.

Speaker 4 (14:55):
He was an outstanding player.

Speaker 2 (14:56):
He was he was and a great leader.

Speaker 3 (14:58):
But he knocked down that last pass on the last
second without I mean, there's a whole bunch of guys
going for that ball, but it was kind of he
and Griunkowski at the end, and you can see that
Ronnie got a piece of that ball.

Speaker 5 (15:09):
That gave me no doubt. He'll be no more as
the co host of your show. But he also that's
what he said when people ask me, and when he returns,
and when he returns, he'll come back to Philly and
he'll be a great standing member of the city of
Philadelphia and he will make a positive difference in our
great city.

Speaker 2 (15:25):
He is he is a part of this community forever.

Speaker 3 (15:27):
He's from He's from Baltimore, away from New York, perfect
place in between, and spent years here and of course
it was part of a super Bowl champion team, which
I hope you get the thrill of being because once
you're part of a super Bowl championship team in this
town or any championship team, you are here forever. We're
not letting you go. So we hope, we hope you
get to experience that as we all do. Before we

(15:47):
get into retracing your career or your history what brought
you here, there's a couple of notes from yesterday that
I just I think are really important to mention, and
that is, you have some incredible players on this team.
We did this sometimes get overlooked and you had missed
aj Brown for a few weeks and DeVante Smith goes.

Speaker 2 (16:05):
Out and I mean their return meant an awful lot.
Yeah it did. I mean they're two unbelievable players.

Speaker 6 (16:11):
And you know, we rely really heavily on those guys
making plays because they have the capability and they have
that you know, that ability to do that.

Speaker 5 (16:19):
The when did the idea of a fifty to fifty
ball come into your world? Like when you at the
confidence that Jalen has it, all of you have. I
imagine when you're on the field and you have not
yet been on the field with Aj or Davante. But
throwing the ball when you know that your guys got
a great chance to make a catch, that's not the
feeling you get with every receiver in your career, right, No.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
That's very true.

Speaker 6 (16:41):
I mean, I think as a quarterback you kind of
have to know what your receiver, what his strengths are.

Speaker 2 (16:46):
Is it speed, is it size? Is it his catch radius?

Speaker 6 (16:50):
So is it going to be a high bactual the
ball is going to be a low Bacchal the ball
it's gonna I'm not gonna let him, you know, outrun
the guy next to him, if he's even, if he's
even he's leaving, you know, just kind of what kind
of guy he is. And then you have some guys
kind of like Smittye and Ajo who can really do
it all and so that's.

Speaker 4 (17:06):
What kind of what makes themself scar and they literally
have no weaknesses. I mean, it's pretty impressive. It's really amazing.

Speaker 2 (17:10):
Yeah, it's pretty great.

Speaker 5 (17:11):
We've had some great ones in the city, but I
really think that AJ's seasons that he's had here.

Speaker 4 (17:17):
Are up there with all of them.

Speaker 5 (17:19):
With quick six with Terrell Owens in two thousand and four,
with Harold through all the years that he had to
Shaun Jackson in his great years. AJ Brown has been
dynamic every single week. I think he's got nine one
hundred yard games since like mid two, twenty two, twenty
twenty two.

Speaker 2 (17:36):
It's crazy.

Speaker 3 (17:37):
And he sent records last year with his streak of
six games. And if you think about yesterday's play clog
and I'm not a second guesser, I'm really not. You know,
there's so many things that go into that, but it
was the last possession you guys had trying to run
out the clock and at least had that you kept
the ball in the ground, would have wishd them to
use all their timeouts and would have left them with
very little time left. And they took a shot down

(17:58):
the side on AJ Brown, and that is showing some confidence.
It was a great throw and a great catch and
if it goes incomplete, Cleveland.

Speaker 2 (18:06):
Might have a lot more time left to get the
ball back. But that's an A J. Brown type play
where the superstar comes through. Absolutely.

Speaker 6 (18:12):
I think it just shows the confidence that we do
have in those guys in you know, Jalen to put
the ball on the money and AJ to go up
and get it like we're gonna put the game on
the line to do it because we know they can.

Speaker 2 (18:21):
And here are chickis and peats.

Speaker 3 (18:22):
They have a new design to buy the guy's name
for a j brown wing chicken wing?

Speaker 4 (18:28):
What is on the wing? Do you have the menu?
You know?

Speaker 2 (18:31):
Somebody?

Speaker 3 (18:31):
It's like a sweet chili wing. Somebody's got it around here, Laurence.

Speaker 4 (18:35):
Is that venue back?

Speaker 2 (18:36):
There's somewhere We got to the official sports bar set.
You get the little little park.

Speaker 6 (18:48):
AJ's favorite wing flavor combines with the nostalgia of old
miss with fiery spirit of his playing days, offering a unique.

Speaker 2 (18:54):
Kick to birds Nation. Okay, well there you go. He
definitely and the reason we gave that to print.

Speaker 4 (19:00):
Is so small.

Speaker 2 (19:00):
That is very true.

Speaker 3 (19:05):
But well which also, I mean you as a quarterback,
are you wear those things?

Speaker 2 (19:08):
Are your wrist? I could never I could never read
any of that stuff.

Speaker 6 (19:12):
There's a lot of plays, and some of those plays
get pretty wordy.

Speaker 2 (19:14):
So yeah, it's good.

Speaker 3 (19:15):
And there a couple also some shout outs to some
of our former guests on this show, and we appreciate
all of you, and certainly appreciate Tanner McKee join us
here today. But we had Fred Johnson here last week.
We've had Mark Treyer in the past. We hope he
comes and join us. I mean, listen, you have these
great tackles and Jordan Malata and Lane Johnson, and Jordan

(19:36):
unfortunately goes down with a hamstring injury.

Speaker 2 (19:38):
Es j He's got to step in there.

Speaker 3 (19:39):
Fred does and play, and they've got a guy named
Miles Garrett on the other side of line. And it
was a ten to ten football game, and you guys
wind up pointing real shout out to what he did
in a very pressure situation.

Speaker 2 (19:49):
Yeah, I mean for as.

Speaker 6 (19:50):
An unbelievable player, you to see his size and you
know how good he can be. And then you know,
as a person that is one play away from playing
in the game, like you always have to be ready,
and so you know the chances of you playing maybe slim,
but when when you're called on to play, like your
numbers called you, you're expected to go out there and perform.

Speaker 3 (20:06):
And we got to give Calcatras a shot too, because
Dallas got my former co host also on this show
along with them. You know what, I really, I really
really apologized him, and I told you that last night
we were talking about it that I that I butcher
his name.

Speaker 2 (20:21):
I really want what.

Speaker 4 (20:21):
Is it about you?

Speaker 5 (20:22):
But what what is so hard for you to pronounce
the name. It's very simple, it's very calcra This is
really deep.

Speaker 4 (20:31):
Grant. I'm thrilled for Grant. I mean, he is a
grand Sea. He is a player who has always.

Speaker 5 (20:36):
Run really good routes, who's been really good with the
football in his hands.

Speaker 4 (20:38):
He just hasn't had.

Speaker 5 (20:39):
The opportunities that would demonstrate and kind of highlight his
his skill set. So that is the whole essence of
the NFL. When your number is called, you are required
to make plays or you don't last in the NFL.
And so for Fred and earlier in the season Tyler
Steen to step in there, for super Dejene to get

(21:00):
a shot yesterday and start and play well. For Grant,
for Johan Dotson who made plays for Britain. Covey also
one of Gerald's co hosts here. When he has had
the chance as a receiver, he made plays, He moved
the football, make catches.

Speaker 4 (21:16):
A season is seventeen games long.

Speaker 5 (21:19):
The roster is fifty three plus seventeen and then some
and every man is required to be part of the
team to know his role and to be a star
in that role.

Speaker 2 (21:28):
And to add to that, Tater as you are there
as a backup quarterback.

Speaker 3 (21:31):
And say you know you're only one play away, well
maybe your two plays away, but you could be in
there at any time as well. And we know that
that happened when the Eagles won the Super Bowl after
the twenty seventeen season. During that season, Carson Wentz was
having an MVP year. Goes down, Nick Foles steps in,
and he wasn't the only one. I mean, Dave, you
had a lot of guys go down to.

Speaker 4 (21:48):
Jason Peters, a left tackle went down.

Speaker 2 (21:50):
It was like five major players.

Speaker 4 (21:52):
Yeah, it was then Jordan who's the middle linebacker, Jordan Hicks.

Speaker 3 (21:56):
They got hurt, went down, Chris Maragos got hurts went
out as.

Speaker 4 (22:00):
He went out. We had a ton of injuries and if.

Speaker 3 (22:02):
You guys all stepped in and they won the Super
Bowl against the New England Patriots. Anyhow, so that's all
part of being a winning team. Unfortunately, you have had
guys really step up this year when other guys are
going down because injuries of course are going to happen
list when we come back, because we got to take a.

Speaker 2 (22:15):
Break talk about Tanner McKay.

Speaker 3 (22:16):
We are going to this is going to be Tanner
McKee all the time, and we're also going to hear
from Lauren McKee, who will tell us about how Tanner
McKee did that happened.

Speaker 4 (22:25):
I mostly I arrived here late. She like just stepped
right in there.

Speaker 2 (22:27):
And no, no, I cheated, cheated in volunteer.

Speaker 3 (22:31):
I recruited her, but she doesn't seem shy.

Speaker 2 (22:35):
So we're looking for here.

Speaker 3 (22:36):
We were here at Chickens and Pizza All Pro Philly
Players show Daves Bonario and Gerald called with our special
guest Tanner mckaye.

Speaker 2 (22:42):
We're also on one or two point five FM.

Speaker 3 (22:44):
Fox Sports again, but we will be back shortly at
Chickens and Pizza in Marlton, New Jersey.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
Actually, the All Pro field players lack of.

Speaker 4 (23:16):
Sure.

Speaker 3 (23:16):
We had such a.

Speaker 2 (23:17):
Long line asking for Tanner the autograms, knowing that some
day they're going to be real.

Speaker 3 (23:23):
But I am Gerald called to love my co host,
Eagles insider Daves Dare and we are special guests Eagles
backup quarterback Tanner McKay. I don't even want to add
backup quarter quarterback exactly, and and and you know, you're
exactly right. Eagles quarterback, which is an unbelievable accomplishment. And
we are also going to bring in Eagles quarterback wife
Lauren McKay, and we want to we want to really

(23:44):
take down the bringer.

Speaker 4 (23:45):
Now.

Speaker 3 (23:46):
Yeah, let's bring her least and have them share the mic. Lauren,
how'd you guys meet?

Speaker 2 (23:53):
Lauren? Welcome?

Speaker 4 (23:54):
How'd you guys lean on in here? How did you
how did you how did you kick your coverage? Tanner?

Speaker 2 (23:59):
Do you want to start? Do you want to start?
I started? So we've actually gone back and forth.

Speaker 6 (24:03):
We don't know exactly actually the first time that we've
met what we grew up in the same city and
our families. We were kind of friends for a little bit,
and so we've we've known of each other. She's friends
with like my cousins. I was friend with her cousins.
Her uncle was like my baseball coach growing up. So
we've known each other's families for a long time, but
we don't know exactly actually when we met. So started

(24:26):
dating at the end of high school, and then I
went on my mission in Brazil. She went on her
mission in Mexico, and then got serious when we both
came back.

Speaker 4 (24:34):
Great, And how long was the courtship? How long you
been married? Do you want to marry? You want and
a half years?

Speaker 1 (24:40):
Great?

Speaker 4 (24:41):
Did you want? Were you through college? I'm sorry it
was was so did you go on the missions together?

Speaker 7 (24:47):
So we went to separate missions, but we were dating.
It was a long distance.

Speaker 4 (24:51):
Oh my gosh, that's so great.

Speaker 3 (24:53):
Yeah, go ahead, Erald, Well know, and the missions are
fascinating to me for those for those who aren't familiar.

Speaker 2 (24:59):
Explain what a mission it is and how you get
pick where you're going to go. Got me do it?

Speaker 6 (25:04):
Yeah, So a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ,
the a Lota Day Saints. For guys, it's two years.
For girls, it's eighteen months. Really, you write a letter
to the leads of the church saying, hey, I'm willing
and worthy to serve a mission for my church. They
send a letter back saying, okay, you've been called to
serve in wherever this place is.

Speaker 2 (25:22):
In your case Brazil, my case Brazil. For her case, Mexico.

Speaker 6 (25:26):
She has a sister in Sweden, I have a brother
in Guatemala, so it really could be anywhere. And her
brother just got back from Thailand, so it really could
be anywhere in the world. You go there, you serve
the people, you talk about Jesus Christ, learn the language,
the culture.

Speaker 2 (25:39):
So it's a really great exper and you did not
speak Portuguese.

Speaker 5 (25:41):
Going on going, How many people are you able to
reach in that period of time when you say serve
the people and spread the word?

Speaker 4 (25:52):
How do you do it?

Speaker 5 (25:53):
Do you knock on doors? Are are there organized gatherings?
Are there open houses at churches?

Speaker 4 (25:59):
Like? How does it work? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (26:00):
It kind of depends on where you were different areas
that I was in.

Speaker 6 (26:04):
You know, we would you know, talk to people on
the street or just friends or people that we knew,
you know, has a problem with you know whatever. It
could be drugs, alcohol, you know, family that they need
somebody to talk to, whatever it is.

Speaker 2 (26:17):
You know, we'd help people build a fence.

Speaker 6 (26:19):
There were times I'd walking on the street seeing people
play basketball and be like, hey, if we beat you
in two and two basketball, then you give us ten
minutes and we'll talk real quick. So they're just little
creative ways I did. I had like a set of
cards in my pocket. I'd show people a magic trick
and be like, hey, wow, can we show you or
talk to you about Jesus Christ for ten minutes if
I show you how to do the magic trick.

Speaker 2 (26:37):
So they're just little creative ways, fun ways to talk
to people.

Speaker 3 (26:40):
Well, and then you return to Brazil this year surprisingly,
so do do you have friends down their relationships?

Speaker 6 (26:46):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (26:46):
It was great.

Speaker 6 (26:47):
Have a lot of people that nowadays with social media
makes it easy, but yeah, I was a.

Speaker 2 (26:54):
Lot of fun.

Speaker 6 (26:55):
Had a lot of people that came to the game.
Lauren actually went down her parents, my parents, and my
mission for residence who were kind of like the older
couple that were in charge of all the missionaries while
I was down there.

Speaker 3 (27:04):
Sorry for saying older, but anyways, I'm the old guy
in here so far.

Speaker 6 (27:12):
So yeah, it was a great experience just being down
there doing you know, interviews in Portuguese, talking to the people,
eating the food.

Speaker 2 (27:17):
It was it was a lot of fun.

Speaker 5 (27:18):
At this point, you're you're an established relationship. How do
you stay in touch during that time? Clearly back in
Gerald day, because he's so old, he would have to
write letters to each other.

Speaker 4 (27:29):
Is it all?

Speaker 3 (27:31):
Is it all now?

Speaker 4 (27:32):
Just facetiming and social.

Speaker 6 (27:34):
Media and yeah, a lot through like Instagram, WhatsApp is
a popular app down down in Brazil, and so a
lot of people just use that. So we'll go back
and forth just the same a football Yeah, yeah, so
it really makes it easy.

Speaker 2 (27:45):
It's it's a lot of.

Speaker 3 (27:46):
Fun and tanner from a sports standpoint. So you're recruited
out of high school by Stanford. You you you accept
to go there, but you put your football career in hold.

Speaker 2 (27:55):
How does that work? And how accepting was Stanford of that?

Speaker 4 (27:59):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (27:59):
I mean that that was one of the reasons why
I love Stanford.

Speaker 6 (28:01):
And honestly, throughout my recruiting process, the coaches were awesome
about you know, just hey, I'm going to step back
for two years. I'm not going to be here. I
graduated in twenty eighteen. I was saying, I'm not going
to come in until twenty twenty. And Coach Shaw was awesome.
He's like, you know, I wish we already had a
couple return missionaries that were playing for Stanford football at
the time. And he's like, I think it's so cool

(28:21):
that you guys had this experience. You know, you're going
to go out there trying to bring people together for
a common purpose, people with different cultural backgrounds and everything,
and he's like, on a football team, we're going to
have people from you know, different cultural backgrounds, possibly different countries,
but definitely different states and different things like that, and
you're going to try to bring them together as a
leader of the team and try to, you know, bring
him together for one common purpose. And so he's like,

(28:43):
it's great practice for that, and he's like that will
make you ultimately a better leader, better man, better quarterback.

Speaker 4 (28:49):
So but how did you stay sharp? Like, don't your
football skills erode?

Speaker 2 (28:54):
So surprisingly enough, when I came back and I started.

Speaker 6 (28:57):
Throwing, I felt pretty good accurate, Like, you know, my
accuracy felt good when I was throwing the ball, but
I lost probably twenty five to thirty pounds.

Speaker 4 (29:05):
Wow.

Speaker 6 (29:05):
I would try to throw the ball, and after fifteen minutes,
I'm like, my arm is sore. Like I I got
to chill out for a little bit and just lifting weights.
Had to get back into it. But honestly felt pretty
good getting back into it. I'm always a firm believer
that when you put Heavenly Father first, he's gonna he's
gonna help you and all those other things. So I
always had confidence that I was gonna be able to
come back and you know, continue playing the.

Speaker 3 (29:25):
Game that I'm picturing you going to Brazilian steakhouses every
night anyway. But all right, before I let Lauren go
take her seat back here and take you some peace, Lauren,
I want to talk about what it's like to be
the wife of a quarterback. And I guess it started
with girlfriend, what's it like to be in those stands?
We talked a little about the reaction of people, this
stuff you hear, plus the obviously the factor when he takes.

Speaker 2 (29:48):
A hit that he's getting up every time. What's it
like for you just talking to the mic?

Speaker 7 (29:52):
Yeah, so obviously it's so fun. You know, it's like
the love of your life chasing his dream. But then
it's also so nerve wracking because he chasing his dream,
and of course you want him to do as well
as you can and you want him to reach his dream.
So lots of fun. It's so fun to be at
the link and hear all the fans cheering for the Eagles,

(30:14):
cheering for Tanner. But then also at the end of
the day, it is it's his life, and injuries happen,
and there's high highs and there's low lows.

Speaker 2 (30:24):
So yeah, it's it's have you.

Speaker 5 (30:26):
Gotten lit up in the preces? I'm trying to think that,
did you get a little hopefully not yet.

Speaker 6 (30:30):
Yeah, I took a decent amount of hits in college,
but no, not in the preseason. Not not any like
welcome to the NFL. It's going viral on social media
type it. So I've been lucky, but learning those preseason games.

Speaker 5 (30:42):
Tanner's had really good success, and so it must really
be fun for you to watch him grow into this
role against the very best players in the world.

Speaker 7 (30:50):
Yeah. Yeah, it's seriously so amazing. Yeah, to watch your husband,
your you know, your favorite person achieve his dreams and
and do what he's.

Speaker 2 (31:00):
Worked for his whole life.

Speaker 4 (31:01):
Are you a football expert? Like like everybody else is
sitting at a financial book.

Speaker 7 (31:06):
I mean, I'm I'm learning. I've learned so much now.

Speaker 2 (31:09):
It was pretty funny during the pre draft process.

Speaker 6 (31:12):
You know, you're gonna do interviews with different teams and
things like that, and so she was like quizzing me
and helping me, you know, memorize all right, head coach, quarterback, coach,
offensive coordinator for all.

Speaker 2 (31:22):
These That's a very important.

Speaker 6 (31:24):
She after after the draft, like she was actually pretty
good with you know, head coach, you know what team
it was, and things like that, because we'd be like
driving and I'm like, okay, you know, quiz me on
these teams, I'm gonna have to have you know, all
the all the coaches memorized, because you know, when you
come up to an interview, you want to sound.

Speaker 4 (31:38):
Like you know what you're talking, You've done your research.

Speaker 2 (31:40):
Yeah, so yeah, it was a lot of fun.

Speaker 5 (31:42):
So, Lauren, you're sitting are you sitting around other wives, girlfriends,
family members, so you're not you're kind of insulated from
the really vicious fan reaction when things aren't going well.

Speaker 7 (31:54):
I mean there's still fans around us wherever the family
is sitting. They sent they like there is a lot
of family and some of the sections. But yeah, like
you are with the fans and you know they're yelling
at other fans, the rival fans that come into the
stadium too. But it makes it a lot of fun.

Speaker 4 (32:12):
Well, it's fun when you win. It's challenging when you're
not doing so well.

Speaker 3 (32:16):
Well, thanks for thanks for stepping up and Joyce, great
love story and how was Brazil for you?

Speaker 7 (32:21):
It was amazing? It was Yeah, it was so fun
to see Tanner play football in a place he loved
so much, and like the first ever game in South America,
it was.

Speaker 4 (32:29):
It was seriously so fun.

Speaker 3 (32:30):
Well thanks to Joyce and you guys, seriously you are
such a feel good couple to be around. I appreciate
it a lot of a lot of positive high There
is no doctors. Let's let's go back to the more
boring football park because she is fabulous and we really
really appreciate her joining us.

Speaker 2 (32:47):
But so so you're there in a ru of California.

Speaker 3 (32:50):
You have to make your choice as to what sports
are go and what really pushed you towards football overall.

Speaker 6 (32:56):
I think for me, like like kind of what we
were saying before I played basketball, played baseball, ended up
playing indoor volleyball, and obviously football. I think I just
kind of had that drive and that love for football
at a pretty young age. I would say my two
best sports growing up were probably baseball being a pitcher
or being a quarterback. And so I kind of had

(33:16):
to make the decision. You know, it's kind of a
lot to pitch and also go to football practice and
be a quarterback. It's kind of a lot of wear
and tear in your arm. So I feel like I
kind of had to make a decision at that point.
But I just I just loved football. I loved you know,
being in control and being a leader, and you know,
just the grind of weightlifting, speed training, just everything all encompassing.
Had a really good team, a really good high school coach,

(33:38):
and so ultimately it was it was really my love
for football. That kind of was like, I'm gonna take
this football route.

Speaker 4 (33:43):
Who recruited you.

Speaker 2 (33:45):
For colleges?

Speaker 4 (33:46):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (33:47):
I took a decent amount of visits around the country,
my my official visits.

Speaker 6 (33:52):
I took to Texas, Washington, Stanford, Alabama, and Texas A
and M.

Speaker 4 (33:56):
What star? What star recruit?

Speaker 1 (33:58):
Were you?

Speaker 2 (33:58):
Four star?

Speaker 4 (33:59):
Five stars?

Speaker 2 (33:59):
Depends you look. Some four stars, some fire mainly mainly
for star nice Why Stanford? I thought it was the
best overall fit for me.

Speaker 6 (34:10):
I thought it was a great mix of you know,
academic success as well as you know success on the
football field. Just being around the locker room, being around
the guys just kind of felt at home.

Speaker 2 (34:20):
I feel like I fit in the locker room.

Speaker 6 (34:21):
Those guys had similar expectations and you know, yeah expectations
for how they're they wanted to live their lives and
like the men that they wanted to be. The coaches
were awesome, the networking obviously on the academic sides.

Speaker 2 (34:33):
I just felt like it was kind of the whole
package for me.

Speaker 5 (34:35):
We had Thomas Booker on a few weeks ago and
he said, really the same thing, that it really builds
you into an all around person.

Speaker 4 (34:41):
At Stanford. David Chow former Eagles coach, way back in
the day he was here.

Speaker 6 (34:45):
I honestly did not know that until I got drafted
and he called and say congratulations.

Speaker 2 (34:49):
He's like, you know, I was there, like way back
in the day.

Speaker 1 (34:51):
I was. I was.

Speaker 4 (34:53):
I was with the Eagles when David Shall was here
way yeah. And uh, everybody always knew that David was
a coach, a on the rise.

Speaker 5 (35:00):
And I think probably the surprising thing is that David
lasted and stayed rather at Stanford so long rather than
kind of make that jump back into the NFL, because
he's just got it all together. He's just a super guy,
well spoken, intelligent, great football mind, relates to people so well,
what is it about Stanford that is so appealing to everyone?

Speaker 3 (35:22):
Like?

Speaker 5 (35:23):
What is is the is the the stimulation of the
educational part of it what keeps everyone kind of there
And actually, you know, when you graduate from Stanford you
can write.

Speaker 4 (35:34):
Your own ticket, I think, in any part of the
world that you want to enter.

Speaker 3 (35:38):
And before you answer, also when when Tas Booker was
here a few weeks ago, he talked that he was
into tech side and he did some research that more
acts were developed by Stanford along than anyone else, and
that they sent him a recruitment video that wasn't about football,
it was about all the intellectual accomplishments. So just did
that play a part in your in your choice as well?

Speaker 6 (35:58):
Yeah, I think it's really cool to kind of be
around a group of people that have kind of, like
what we were saying before, really high expectations to succeed.
I remember being at Stanford and just I was hanging
out with a group of friends and we were in
this little dorm and there was probably about four of
us and He's like, okay, I didn't know anybody in
the group, and my buddy came in.

Speaker 2 (36:16):
He was like, okay, let me introduce it. Everybody.

Speaker 6 (36:18):
You know she is, you know, a silver medalist in
the Olympics for swimming. He started his own, you know
app company, He's doing this, and it was it was
just really cool everybody and no matter what they were doing,
they were doing it at a really high level having success.
And so when you're there, I feel like, when you're
around people that are so high achieving, it kind of
makes you want to be high achieving as well. And
I think that's kind of the one of the biggest

(36:39):
draws is that you know, everybody there wants to succeed
and do well and you know, be excellent at whatever
they do, and it kind of helps you reach your
full potential as well.

Speaker 2 (36:48):
I mean, I'm confused by your manscot.

Speaker 3 (36:51):
You know, the cardinal and I hear it's a color
not actually a bird religious figure.

Speaker 2 (36:56):
And it's a tree is the act.

Speaker 3 (36:58):
It's kind and you're in Palo Alto, California, playing the
Atlantic Coast Conference.

Speaker 6 (37:03):
Get there's a lot of crazy things. So Stanford is
technically it's a Stanford Cardinal, which is the color. The
tree is kind of like adopted by the band to
have an actual symbol. Stanford is technically its own little
city because it has it's an enormous campus. It's the
second biggest campus in the world. Behind Oxford. It's beautiful too, Yeah,

(37:23):
because it has its own like fire department and police
so it's technically it's on ZIP code. But yeah, it's
an amazing campus, an amazing players. I can't say enough
great things about Stanford. All Right, how was it football?
When did you really get into.

Speaker 2 (37:35):
The upswing?

Speaker 5 (37:36):
Knocking off all the rust from the mission, and then
kind of when did you think about the NFL?

Speaker 2 (37:43):
Yeah, I mean, pretty crazy story.

Speaker 6 (37:46):
I came back from my mission because of COVID March
twenty twenty, so my mission ended like two months early,
and so I'm back trying to get back into shape,
you know, learning the place. Stanford had a very complex
NFL style. I'll playbooks, so, you know, very wordy. I'm
kind of learning all those things. And then in our
first game, Davis Mills, whose quarterback for the Texans, now

(38:09):
he had a positive COVID test, like you know, the
test right before the game, and so coach comes up
to me, sits down, and you know, it's it's me
and Jack West at the time, you know, where there
are other two quarterbacks in the room, and he's like,
what plays do you know? You know you're gonna go
out there for a couple of series and get a
few chances, and so you know, we're going over to
these plays. I've been home for my mission a couple

(38:31):
of months, three months, so I'm still a little bit
underway and still trying to learn the playbook.

Speaker 2 (38:35):
But it was an awesome experience.

Speaker 4 (38:37):
Tell us what happened.

Speaker 6 (38:39):
First play, I threw like a fifty yard pass to
see me Fijoko, who's playing for the Chargers now, and
that that was awesome And ultimately it was a fun
time to just be out there on the future.

Speaker 4 (38:49):
Did you play well?

Speaker 2 (38:50):
I would say I played pretty well.

Speaker 4 (38:52):
Do you guys win the game?

Speaker 6 (38:53):
We did not win the game, unfortunately, I play I
only played probably three series, but.

Speaker 2 (39:00):
Yeah, just just kind of learning the offense.

Speaker 6 (39:01):
It was My footwork is definitely off as a certain
amount of times, and you know, my reads were probably
a little bit off.

Speaker 5 (39:06):
But it was a great experience. How big a jump
temple wise? I wonder Tanner from high.

Speaker 4 (39:11):
School football to inactivity.

Speaker 5 (39:14):
On the football field for almost two years to then
playing Was it just boom boom boom so fast you
couldn't even process.

Speaker 2 (39:22):
Yeah, it was pretty quick.

Speaker 6 (39:23):
Luckily I played at a really good high school, Corona Centennial,
we played you know modern day Bosco IMG, we played
all these really good schools, and so I kind of
had that experience of playing you know, Division one talent.

Speaker 2 (39:34):
But yeah, I mean coming back and you get in.

Speaker 6 (39:36):
You finally get into college, and especially a place like Stanford,
and you're like, wow, these these old line Like there's
some big dudes and you know, d line and things
like that.

Speaker 2 (39:43):
So it was a lot of fun to get back
into it.

Speaker 6 (39:45):
And obviously I was hungry and excited to come back
and play football after taking that.

Speaker 2 (39:49):
Break for two years.

Speaker 5 (39:50):
All right, So then you get into you you take
the job, You're you're the starting quarterback. Uh, what was
the kind of the difference what made you a an
NFL prospect? What in your development, in your technique, in
the way you approach the game.

Speaker 4 (40:04):
Whatever?

Speaker 5 (40:04):
Do you think was the kind of the tipping point
that said the team said, hey, this guy's a draft prospect,
this guy's in the NFL prospect.

Speaker 6 (40:12):
I think for me, I kind of like to hang
my hat on my accuracy, my preparation, and you know,
the coaches that Stanford did a great job of making
sure that I was prepared and had all my checks
and everythings like that, and we do a great job.

Speaker 2 (40:23):
At the Eagles as well.

Speaker 6 (40:25):
But I would say just my preparation and my accuracy,
I'm very confident in, you know, my ability to have
good ball placement and put it in the right spot,
put it in the back shoulder or no, whatever it is.
And so I feel like that's something that I is
a strength of mind, and I definitely hang my hat on.

Speaker 5 (40:39):
But you're also six six, and some six to six
guys are lumbering slow, like You're much quicker, I think
than we all thought.

Speaker 4 (40:47):
Like I didn't. I didn't really watch you in college.

Speaker 5 (40:49):
So how did you get to the how'd you get
the processing quickly, the ball out fast, the feet you're
got natural athleticism of that all play a part in
it too.

Speaker 4 (40:58):
Right, Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 6 (40:59):
I Mean we ran a spread offense, you know, option
read in high school, and so I felt like that
was something that we applied into Stanford.

Speaker 2 (41:08):
So it was kind of new.

Speaker 6 (41:08):
But coaches like, hey, if you did in high school,
let's try it out. So I ran the ball a
ton in high school. I have some record that was
like two hundred and like sixty yards of rushing in
a high school game must have been tired. Yeah, yeah,
because every time they wanted to be run the ball.
But yeah, you know, it's it's been fun to kind
of you know, this is what I've done in the past,
is what I think he can work. And then it's

(41:30):
a lot of fun of applying those same things into
the NFL. A lot of things that Jayalen's like, Hey,
you know, this is what I've done in the past.
What have you guys done in the past. And you know,
we're talking about different things that can work against specific defenses,
or you know, a certain hot that we can change,
or just different plays that we're gonna like add a
different flavor, have something that's a little bit different, just
so teams, you know, just.

Speaker 2 (41:49):
So we're not so vanilla and we're changed.

Speaker 4 (41:51):
I wonder if Tailer's never run for two sixty. I
mean he's run for a long.

Speaker 2 (41:54):
He may have been a high school I mean, I'm
sure he did in high school. He's a better athlete
than I have.

Speaker 4 (41:59):
By the way, I love the option yesterday. That was
a great call.

Speaker 6 (42:01):
A great call that was That was a check by
Jay during like just to when we saw that look,
so props to him.

Speaker 2 (42:07):
For seeing it get into the right call and executing
that's that's great football.

Speaker 3 (42:09):
And Jalen had a very good game yesterday and sometimes
gets underappreciated this city, and I do want to point
out but before we take our last break, I want
to ask you what needed you to decide it was
time to go to the NFL, Because the way I
look at it, you had at least one, maybe even
two years of eligibility left. Well have two years left, okay,
because the COVID rules. I mean right, we got thirty
year old kids playing.

Speaker 4 (42:31):
And I know that.

Speaker 3 (42:32):
I know, for example, Britten Coveys, one of his college coaches,
always you know, jokes how old he is.

Speaker 2 (42:37):
By the time he came out, he still had some
time left. So what need you say, Hey, now's the
time to declare and go.

Speaker 6 (42:44):
Yeah, I'm a NFL good in my ability to come
out and perform at the NFL level, Obviously, it was
a goal of mine ever since I was a kid,
and so once that was.

Speaker 2 (42:51):
A possibility, was excited to go.

Speaker 6 (42:55):
Just hearing you know, you hear so many things of
where you're going to go in the draft and who
you're going to go to and things like that.

Speaker 2 (43:01):
But I was pretty excited just to have a chance
to play in the NFL.

Speaker 4 (43:04):
Can you tell us about draft weekend?

Speaker 3 (43:07):
Yeah, and before you go, you say, you know, you
hear all these different things, right, you wind up being
a sixth round pick by the Eagles. What were you
expecting going in? And then have that whole So those
a whole few days play out. My expectation was at
least third round, and so I was.

Speaker 6 (43:25):
I was pretty upset and pretty angry, just you know,
throughout the process and different things that are going on.
When you see yourself all into the draft board, it's
it's not easy, especially when you leave school early and
you have these high expectations that things are going on,
and then you see your name fall and you see
these guys that are getting picked in front of you,
and you're like, man, I feel like I've played against
these guys. I feel like I'm so much better than them.

(43:46):
I could be more valuable to a team. And there's
different things that go on, and obviously you have confidence
in yourself.

Speaker 2 (43:50):
But it was tough. But I mean, once the Eagles
picked me.

Speaker 6 (43:54):
And I got the call from Howie, I mean, I was,
I was so excited to come here, and my agent
called me and it's just like, let's freaking go, like
just knowing that it's a great fit, a great team
because like, and my agent was saying, he's awesome justin
Schulman and he was like, you know, the fit and
where you go is is very much. He said, it's
more important than where you go in the draft. It's
just like you know how your career is going to

(44:16):
turn out and things like that. So he's like, the
Eagles are a great fit, great coach, great scheme. Obviously
he's had a lot of success, and so for me,
he was very excited for that, even though you know, yeah,
I was a little disappointed.

Speaker 3 (44:26):
I'm sure it was a loss to you that there
was a quarterback beamed Tom Brady who went in the
six draft.

Speaker 2 (44:30):
All true. Yeah, I'm very familiar with that and things
such as that.

Speaker 3 (44:33):
And since you had already rehearsed with your wife Lauren
as to who the coach was, the general manager, the
quarterback coach, and it's changed a lot for the Eagles.

Speaker 2 (44:43):
That alone is hard enough.

Speaker 3 (44:45):
But you knew what you were getting into in Philadelphia,
and we're very glad you're hear. I'm very glad you're
joining us here. So we wanna take one one final
break and we'll come back and talk about what it's
been like you now a year and a half here
in Philadelphia and what we can look forward to. So
we are here in the All Pro Philly Player Show
Live from Chickens and Pizza and Marlton New Jersey, Daves
badera Gerard Coldman, our special guest Tanner McKee will be
coming back for our last segment right after this.

Speaker 2 (45:14):
Welcome back to the All Pro Billy Show Live Chicken
Piece and Marlton New.

Speaker 3 (45:18):
Jersey our final segment and Chicken pe We gotta thank
them all the time, the official sports Bar, and you
know the phillip Eagles and just the best place of
players go.

Speaker 5 (45:29):
And is there a postgame scene? Do you have a
postgame scene if you go to Chicky's over in South Philly.

Speaker 6 (45:34):
I've done a few times during training camp. Uh, we've
gone a few times. And then you know, the whole
new rookie class, they would.

Speaker 2 (45:41):
Bring us over to Chickis and Pete and it's it's great.
We've loved that those rookie kids.

Speaker 3 (45:44):
Now you're you're a season veteran, Petecherochi, his staff, his family.
We got Pete Junior, Pete the third. It's just it's
amazing how they get the city of Philadelphia. They take
great care of the players and the fans, and they're
just such a fabric and guy. Glad to have you here,
and I know they're thrilled that you're here as well.
Hopefully you and Lauren have a nice meal afterwards. But listen,

(46:06):
So you get drafted by the field off Eagles. No,
you know you're coming to a team that has signed
Jalen Hurts for a long term deal, and you're a
six round pick, which doesn't mean you necessarily make the team.
So take us through that whole mindset as you come
here in the spring of twenty twenty three, and you've
got to learn it real quick. You've had already two
offensive coordinators in your time here, two different quarterbacks, and

(46:26):
things change. So just take us through that process of
coming here and trying to be an NFL quarterback.

Speaker 6 (46:30):
That transition cannot be easy. Yeah, I mean, when you're
a six round pig, you know nothing's given. You're gonna
have to earn everything. You're gonna have to prove yourself
on and off the field, and so you know, coming
into it, I just kind of had that expectation of,
you know, I'm.

Speaker 2 (46:44):
Gonna do try to do more film than anybody.

Speaker 6 (46:46):
I'm gonna stay afterwards, I'm gonna do extra lifts, I'm
gonna do extra things just to kind of try to
separate myself because I know that I can't. Where I
was drafted is not just separation for myself to make
the team kind of like what you were saying things
like that. So, uh, I'm definitely gonna have to work
for for my spot and you know how I'm going
to help the team, and you.

Speaker 2 (47:07):
Know, try to do that every day.

Speaker 5 (47:08):
Tanner, what what are your what are your thoughts on
your career, your progress that you've made, and is there
any doubt in your mind that you can be a
great quarterback, that you will be a.

Speaker 2 (47:16):
Great quarterback in this league?

Speaker 6 (47:17):
Yeah, I mean I have a ton of confidence in
myself just with my knowledge of of football and the
offense and you know, my physical traits as well. You know,
I have a lot of confidence that you know, if
I get put in into a game, you know this
season or in the future, that you know I'm gonna
I'm gonna succeed.

Speaker 2 (47:34):
I'm gonna move the ball and do my best.

Speaker 4 (47:36):
I mean, it's not out of.

Speaker 5 (47:37):
The realm of possibility that one day both Jalen and
Kenny are sitting there and they get COVID and.

Speaker 4 (47:46):
And you're you're playing today. How do you stay ready?
How do you stay sharp?

Speaker 2 (47:50):
Yeah? I think you just prepare like you're like you're
the starter.

Speaker 3 (47:54):
You know.

Speaker 6 (47:54):
Obviously I've started a ton of games and my high school,
my college career, so I kind of have my process
of how I get ready to film, how I get
ready physically, mentally, things like that. So you know, when
I go to a game on Sundays, I'm preparing like
I'm gonna play like I'm the starter. And then you know,
when the game starts, I'm out there making sure that
Jalen see and everything that he needs to see and seeing,

(48:14):
you know, making sure that he has everything that he needs.
But for my you know, pregame process and everything like that,
I'm I'm preparing like I'm gonna go out there and play.

Speaker 2 (48:24):
And so this is a good one. This is a
good one.

Speaker 5 (48:27):
It's kind of all good, kind of a funny it's
kind of a funny thing right, all right, So you're
on the scout team, right, yeah, so you're playing Deshaun
Watson last week?

Speaker 4 (48:34):
Did you practice like throwing the ball like over the
head of.

Speaker 2 (48:39):
And you're only playing on the film.

Speaker 6 (48:44):
Night now, people would be surprised the extent that we
go to to try to, like, you know, when you're
taking scout team reps and you're trying to.

Speaker 4 (48:50):
Like Emily total, like Emily totally.

Speaker 6 (48:52):
Well yeah, well, well, I mean I'm a right foot
forward guy, but you know, if the guy's left fot forward,
will play I left foot forward. I mean, I don't
even have different color wristbands just because that's what the
quarterback does, or just different things like that, just to
try to really give them the exact same field that
it's gonna feel like in the game.

Speaker 4 (49:06):
So you didn't get massage just kid.

Speaker 5 (49:11):
How would you describe Kellen Moore's offense and why do
you think it's quarterback friendly?

Speaker 6 (49:16):
I mean, personally, I love the offense quarterback friendly. I
think it is a lot more of you know, pure
progression reads. It takes a little bit of thinking out
for the quarterback. And I'm a big believer and when
you can go out and you can play fast and
you can just have confidence in what you're seeing and
go out and Nuss always says, grip it and rip
it and just play fast.

Speaker 2 (49:35):
I feel like that's when you play at your best.

Speaker 6 (49:36):
When you're out there and you're thinking about too much
and there's different things that you got to do, and
of course there are checks that you're gonna have to
make as a quarterback, and there's different things that you're
gonna have to see, but you know, not trying to
see the whole field all the time because people are
so good in the NFL at disguising and showing out
these different things. So when you can go out there
and play fast and just go through your progressions, I
think that's when you're at your best.

Speaker 2 (49:54):
I think that offense really helps us. You know, a
pure progression one two.

Speaker 6 (49:58):
You might have an alert versus a certain coverage or
things like that, so you can definitely take advantage of
what the defense has given you.

Speaker 2 (50:04):
But for the most part, as a quarterback, you're gonna
go through your reads and you can play fast.

Speaker 3 (50:08):
So Tanner as the hottest team in the National Football
League's NFC East Division. Going forward and looking forward that
three and two I don't think it's so bad to
be three in two, playing the Giants this week, the
Bengals coming up, and then a whole bunch of things
after that.

Speaker 2 (50:22):
What can we look forward to?

Speaker 3 (50:23):
Last year the team got off to a ten in
one start and obviously it didn't end well. So as
we're at three and two and overcome some obstacles already,
how do you feel looking forward to the rest of
the season.

Speaker 2 (50:32):
I think it's great.

Speaker 6 (50:34):
Obviously, just having adversity at the beginning of the season
I think is good because I think the guys get
a little bit hungry. You know, when you're number one
and things are going well, it's kind of easy to
just be like, you know, what we're doing is working,
and so we're going to keep doing what we're doing.
But and I would say that's good to a certain extent,
But when you're when things aren't going well or you're
just not performing to your expectation, you're like, dude, like,

(50:55):
you know, what, what are we going to do extra?
And what you you're just a little bit more hungry,
and there's a little bit more focus, and you know,
there's things that are just a little bit more tense,
and I think honestly for a team like that, that's great,
Like you want that hunger and you want that desire,
and so that's that's kind of I feel like how
we are.

Speaker 2 (51:11):
I don't think we've put a game together.

Speaker 6 (51:13):
We're on all three phases of football special teams, offense, defense,
where we're like, yeah, that that was us, and so
we're still looking to.

Speaker 2 (51:19):
Put that game together and we're doing everything we can
to you know, have that final product.

Speaker 3 (51:24):
Hey, I'm good, you are, You are good, and we're
real good. Having spent the hour with Tanner McKay, it
is lovely like for Lauren. So I want to thank
who's back to the studio, johnas is shown Nick like
and we appreciate you Nick back at the studio, John
Jansen here, as well as Mike Powers doing all the
video stuff around here. All the people that come out

(51:45):
to Chickens and Piece to support us and have had
a chance to say hello to day, to Tanner McKay.
We love that his wife Lauren came with them and
all the great staff here at Chickens and Pizza, so on.

Speaker 4 (51:54):
Behlf, thanks and you guys thanks for having me.

Speaker 3 (51:56):
We really really appreciate it. Thank you, thank you for
sharing the hour. We're giving us some eat insight, and
we know a lot more about missions than.

Speaker 2 (52:02):
We ever did and what it's like.

Speaker 5 (52:05):
And I just think the journey is so fantastic and
the future is so bright, and that's what's so encouraging
and enlightening. And we just got a great chance to
know you and the fans who are watching and listening
chance to know you and appreciate you more and know
who you are.

Speaker 4 (52:20):
And I think that's really football.

Speaker 5 (52:22):
You play with your helmets on, and I think it's
so important for players to take their helmets off sometimes
and allow the fans to find out who they really are.

Speaker 2 (52:29):
I've been told that I should have you put a
helmet on for this show. Just the best for last No,
appreciate everybody here.

Speaker 3 (52:37):
That's next week we'll be back here with another great
Eagles peck and we say, yeah, have re blanket chips
any so we'll be coming as well, and a certainly
we love all the people to come out here, come
join us next week and every week here for the
All Pro Philly Players show. So we have my partner
Dave spenerera Eagles insider. I'm Gerald Calton, saying thanks for listening.
Thank you very much. Tanner McKay, Eagles quarterback. We'll see

(52:58):
you next week.

Speaker 2 (53:00):
Call the Off. Pro Philly player Shall